Warrant against Sanjay Dutt for non-appearance in threat calls case

The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court issued a non-bailable warrant against Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt on Saturday as he failed to appear before it in connection with a complaint filed by producer Shakil Noorani.

Noorani’s complaint dates back to 2013 when the producer alleged he had received threatening calls from underworld gangsters on behalf of Dutt to settle a dispute regarding a film which the actor allegedly did not complete.

Dutt’s spokesperson, in a statement, said: “This case has been going on since a long time and the present situation has arisen because of the communication lapse between our lawyers and us. We respect the urgency shown by the honourable court regarding our attendance/representation and we would take immediate measure to rectify the situation.”

The producer’s lawyers, Niraj Gupta and Nisha Arora, claimed that the Andheri court had issued several summons to the actor but he failed to appear. “When the complaint was filed in 2013, Dutt had ignored it and a warrant was issued. He, however, had obtained a bail that time. Later, the case could not proceed as he was in jail in connection with the 1993 bomb blast case,” Gupta said.

He added that the presence of the accused is required before recording evidence and so the court could not hear the case during Dutt’s imprisonment and so summons were issued to him after his release.

As per the case filed by Noorani, Dutt had promised to act in his film ‘Jaan ki Bazi’. Noorani alleged that the actor had also taken around Rs40 lakh from him. As Noorani filed a case against Dutt for not returning the money, it is alleged that he started receiving threat calls to withdraw the complaint. The producer alleged that the calls were allegedly made by underworld gangsters on behalf of the actor.